A new scheme.

There's this new thing called Nightcap Syndication. It is a damn good idea. It may even be, dare I say, An Idea Whose Time Has Come. Or it could be a total flop. You never know.

Anyway, here's what it actually is:

So, um, what’s this all about then?

It's an Open Source Newspaper.

So what's that then?

Just like a normal newspaper, just without the dead trees bit. Or the geographical constraints, editorial line, space restrictions and so on.

How does it work?

Just like a regular newspaper, as we said. All dead tree publications are inundated with pieces and copy from people who want to write for them. Some of it (a very little bit) actually gets used. For us, that army of writers is the 50 million people out there in the blogosphere. Just like a regular newspaper, sometimes we approach a writer and ask if we can publish the material here. Other times people approach us and ask if we'd like it.

....

Why "syndication"?

One thing we want to encourage is for editors to think of bloggers as potential freelance writers for their magazines and newspapers. So we have a system (in association with ScooptWords) so that an editor can actually purchase a piece here for publication. We're rather of the school of thought that blogs won't "beat" the mainstream press but we may well infiltrate it.

And look at this. A competition:

Write a review of a digital camera and you might be taken on as a freelancer for a magazine which, err, reviews digital cameras.

... this isn't a competition in the sense that there will only be one winner. Or even necessarily a winner. There are a number of slots open for decent camera reviewers and this isn't a once only opportunity either. The magazine needs reviews on a regular basis. Impress the Editor with your skills and nous and there is an opportunity for one or more to get a regular paid gig out of this.

It'll be interesting to see what comes of all this.